George Russell reveals "pushy" attitude but won't be forceful over Mercedes 2022 drive

George Russell

Russell reveals "pushy" attitude but won't be forceful over Mercedes 2022 drive

Russell, Hamilton and Bottas are all out of contract at the end of this season

Ian Parkes

Sunday 4 April 2021 12:33

Williams driver George Russell has conceded he has been "pushy" with Mercedes throughout his career but insists he will not exact the same pressures over a 2022 drive with the champions.

As part of Mercedes' junior driver programme, Russell has long been nurtured by the manufacturer which helped provide him with the opportunity to drive for Williams.

Then when Lewis Hamilton was hit with Covid last year, Mercedes turned to Russell to deputise, and it is now viewed as a matter of when and not if he will be given a full-time race seat.

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff faces the unusual scenario that Russell, Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas are all out of contract at the end of the year, but the former will not be hounding the Austrian.

"I think up to this point in my career, I have always been very pushy," Russell recently told Sky Sports' F1 Show.

"I was pushy with Mercedes in the first place to get the opportunity to race in GP3 and Formula 2 and move myself into Formula 1.

"But I think I had such a unique opportunity last year in Bahrain, I was in a comfortable position.

"I think the race was massive for myself, giving me the opportunity to sit back, relax and just focus on the driving and say 'What will happen will happen'. I like to think I managed to show what I can do in a front-running car.

"Mercedes are my mentors, my managers and we will just have to wait and see what comes in 2022.

"As I say, that opportunity for me was huge and perhaps I would have been going about it slightly differently if I didn't have that opportunity last year."

Despite scoring for Mercedes that weekend, Russell is still pointless with Williams after two seasons with the team.

Asked if he used his same pushy attitude in the Williams garage, Russell responded: "I guess so.

"We are all in this together. I really push myself to the limits of everything I do and the people around me need to be on their best game. I like to push the team, and especially whilst we are at the back.

"I hate losing, I hate finishing last for the past two years and we need to improve in every single aspect, whether that is the on-track performance, the food in the catering, the marketing side of things, it all leads to the end goal.

"I guess it's the way I have been brought up but I like to push for the most out of everyone."